Bucking the housing trend
Manhattan experiences growth, despite national slump
8:07 p.m. Friday, May 9, 2008
Manhattan — Construction crews pour foundations to build new homes in Riley County.
But despite how sticky the housing market might look, people are looking to lease, rent and sell properties throughout the area.
The national housing market has been in a slump during the past 13 years, but that certainly is not the case here in Riley County. In fact, many homes within Manhattan average about $210,000 each as of last year. That’s an 11 percent increase from the year before. We talked to people on the streets here in Manhattan to find out if this too high of a cost for them.
“I feel it’s a little high,” says K-State student Nate Laster. “It’s a really good location, which makes it really convenient, but, um, for what we pay for, it may be a little high.”
"The basement’s condemned here, but we still pay astronomical prices, $1,800 a month for a dilapidated, condemned basement house,” says Kevin Patch, another K-State student. “I’d say the prices are pretty unfair.”
“Finding a place is fairly easy, but I think you’re paying a little too much for what you’re getting,” says Michael Pine, a student who lives near Aggieville, Manhattan’s bar district. “But I think we pay for the location: being close to campus and close to Aggieville.”
Though students might find the housing market slump to be expensive, residents like Rollin Huffaker find it an investment. He’s purchased seven homes in Manhattan since the 60’s, but has sold each one. Most of the time, he makes a profit or breaks even.
“Throughout the years, we’ve found Manhattan to be ongoing, escalating in price,” Huffaker says. “But on the other side of that, we’ve always found it to be an easy city to buy and sell property.”
Huffaker did add that the cost of living in the area is at trade-off to higher-priced real estate.
Real estate broker Marlene Irvine tells us she believes the local housing boom is due to the type of people in the area.
“We have a mix of students, faculty, staff, military, working-people in Manhattan and there’s a lot of comradery,” Irvine says. “\And there’s a lot of local people that want to make things happen and everybody keeps a positive attitude.”
Irvine has been a realtor in the area for 23 years, and has seen the market fluctuate, but she says it’s much more dependable than other markets.
Irvine says she expect the real estate market to continue growing, especially once the election season is over. She says it’s typically when people are happiest. She’s seen this trend with prior election seasons.
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